Glendale woman shot in shoulder during handgun safety check

A map shows the approximate location of where a woman was shot in the shoulder by her husband as he cleared a handgun for a safety check on Wednesday.

A map shows the approximate location of where a woman was shot in the shoulder by her husband as he cleared a handgun for a safety check on Wednesday. (Google Maps)

Veronica Rocha

A Glendale woman is expected to recover after being shot in the shoulder Wednesday as her husband was clearing a handgun for a safety check, police said.

The woman, 43, was in stable condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, where she was being treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to her shoulder, police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot told the Glendale News-Press.

The woman’s husband, who wasn't identified, was “very distraught” over the shooting, which detectives have preliminarily determined to be accidental, Lightfoot added.

The wife was standing in the kitchen about 5:30 p.m., while her husband was seated on a couch in their home in the 2600 block of Sleepy Hollow Drive in Glendale.

As he opened the case containing the .22 caliber handgun to clear it for her brother, who was moving out of their home, it suddenly discharged and struck his wife, Lightfoot said.

The bullet missed several vital organs and reportedly struck her shoulder blade.

While detectives have initially ruled the shooting to be accidental, they still plan to ask the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to review the incident, Lightfoot said.